BooBoos
by Sasusc
Summary: Jayne comes back to Serenity to find that River was waiting for him.


Title: Boo-boos  
Author: sasusc  
Characters: River, Jayne  
Prompt: #20 Coat/Jacket  
Challenge: Fall Challenge on LJ's rayne_shippers comm  
Word Count: 2419  
Rating: M/R (Sexual content)  
Timeline: Post-BDM  
Summary: Jayne comes back to Serenity to find that River was waiting for him. (This hasn't been beta-read yet, but will be shortly.)  
Disclaimer: Not mine at all or else this would still be on TV

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The cold wind blew past her, bringing the dry and dusty scent of the dying planet to her sensitive nose. Winter was coming; it wouldn't be too long before the first snowfall starts.

River snuggled deeper into the oversized coat she was wearing as she watched the sunrise peaked over the horizon. The soft, muted tones of the night were giving away to vibrant hues of copper and gold. The sun was breathing life back to this part of the planet. She couldn't help but to marvel over the changes the sun brought. To the left, a small village could be seen waking up, lights and movement everywhere; and to the right, a wooded area was alive with sounds of animals. The planet was dying, but life went on. People and animals continued to survive against the oncoming cold front.

_She _was going to survive, too. Not on this planet--not with the life struggling all around her--but with her newfound family…and she was missing one of them. It was why she had stolen his coat and wrapped his warmth around her. If she couldn't be near him physically, the scent of gunpowder and oil would help lessen her need for him.

She wasn't sure exactly when her feelings for Jayne Cobb had changed so dramatically. Was it because of all of the heartache and lost they've been through recently? Could it be because she didn't want to lose another family member after Miranda? Would she still feel this longing to be closer to their missing comrade if it was Mal or Zoe who had taken a leave of absent instead? Somehow, she didn't think so. She wanted Jayne on a whole different level than she ever had wanted anything or anyone.

River was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't hear the sound of footsteps coming closer to her. Jayne watched her silently for a few minutes, waiting for her to notice him. Rarely could he sneak up behind her without her knowledge. He smiled as he realized that this was one of those rare times.

"Hey, girly, that doesn't belong to you."

Heat flared inside her as his husky voice washed over her. She couldn't help her reaction to him. She spun around and wrapped her arms around his waist. She laid her head over his heart to listen to his heartbeat; it was another validation that he was standing here with her.

"You're heart is beating faster."

"It happens when a girl attaches herself to me."

River couldn't help but feel jealousy over all the girls that he had been with--who had been closer to him than she ever had been. They had held him just like this, except without the layers of clothing between them. She pressed her nose into his light jacket and sniffed. There was a scent of wildflower and oranges dusted across his clothing. She rose up on her tiptoes to place her nose against the bare skin of his neck. There was a trace amount of roses mixed into his natural scent.

She pulled back and glared up at him.

"What?" he demanded.

She wanted to keep quiet, but she still hadn't mustered the skills to keep her thoughts to herself when she became overly emotional. "Who was she?"

He frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"You reek of roses and oranges and wildflowers." Jayne sniffed at his shoulders. He couldn't smell anything. "Mama Cobb," River continued, "smells of oranges and wildflowers. One would expect you to smell just like her. She gives you hugs and kisses because she missed her baby boy. But the roses? Who was she?" She gave him a hard poke in the stomach.

His eyes narrowed. "We ain't a couple. I don't need to tell you anything."

She turned away from him as she flinched at his words. He was right. On some level, she knew she had no right to be angry with him. She only realized her feelings for him since he took this trip to visit with his family. But it was hard telling her heart not to feel the pain that he had spent time in another girl's arms while she had been waiting for his return.

She blinked away her tears as she nodded. "Right. Not together. She understands. The girl doesn't think before she talks but she's learning." She unzipped the coat and shrugged out of it. "This belongs to you," she said as she thrust it towards him.

Jayne watched her walk away, confusion written across his face. What had just happened? He stared down at the coat in his hand. Why was she wearing his coat? Simon had brought her a coat. He had seen her in it before, so he couldn't think of any reason why she had been wearing his. He looked back up at her. She was going to freeze in the getup she had on. She had long red dress on which was sleeveless and pants to cover her legs. It was no wonder she had put his winter coat on to come out here. She wasn't dressed properly to be wondering around out here.

He blinked and she was gone. "Wha?" Where did she go?

He took several steps forward and glanced around. She was no where to be seen.

"Jayne!" he heard her cry out.

And then it clicked. She must have fallen down the steep incline that Serenity was parked close to. He rushed over and saw her lying at the bottom. It didn't take him long to stumble down the slope and reached her side.

"She didn't look where she was stepping and she couldn't walk on air."

"Stupid!" he shouted at her as he checked her body for broken bones. Luckily, he couldn't find any when he skimmed his hands across her body. She had some scrapes and he was sure she'll have some bruises. "How could you not see where you were going?"

She couldn't answer as she was immersed in the sensation of his hands on her body. River bit back a moan. She shifted underneath him trying to get a little closer to him.

"I'm going to hear from Mal and Simon that I let you get hurt," he growled. "Not like it's my job to watch you all the time anyway."

"Not your job," she agreed. "Jayne?"

"What?"

"I need medicine for my hurts."

He grabbed her chin and shifted her face to the side. She had a long gash on her check where a stick must have gotten her. "Just some bandages, mostly. It'll heal up in no time."

She shook her head. "A kiss. All I need are kisses to make them better. No bandages or needles will work better."

Shocked, his mouth fell opened. "You--you… Are you using your womanly wiles on me?"

River tried to appear innocent. She hadn't meant to fall down, but now that she was here on the ground with Jayne carefully checking her over, she had a perfect opportunity to use the skills she had acquire from watching Kaylee and Inara. She stuck her bottom lip out and pouted.

"Didn't you ever have Mama Cobb kiss your boo-boo better?"

He scowled. "I ain't your ma or pa."

"Jayne-bear," she said as she placed a hand over his heart. "I never had anyone to kiss my boo-boos better."

He wouldn't let her words soften him. "Than how would you know it works or not?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "Won't find out until you try."

Jayne narrowed his eyes, wondering if she was messing around with him or not, but she looked entirely too honest to be joking.

Just when she was about to give up on the idea of getting him to kiss her, he leaned forward and place his lips against the cut on her cheek. She couldn't help the sigh of pleasure that escaped her mouth as she felt his warm breath on her skin.

His words whispered against her, "Did it feel better?"

"Oh, yes," she replied. "Now kiss me all over and make all the girl's pain disappear." She closed her eyes as she waited.

And waited…

She popped one eye open to stare at him. He was just looking down at her with his arms crossed against his chest. "I'm waiting."

He shook his head. "That's what you want, ain't it? A man you can seduce and who's all kisses and gentle. That's not Jayne. Jayne don't do soft. I like it hard and rough, and that's not for a core-bred woman like you."

River didn't care for his statement, and promptly forgot all of it but one word: woman. She couldn't help but bream up at him. He saw her as a woman and not a child as the rest of the crew still saw her. She wasn't a child anymore. Never really been one.

"You see a woman?" she whispered. "Is that how you see River?"

"Of course I do, but that's not my point. I don't like bedding core-bred women. They…are like china dolls. They break too easy." He held out his hands. "And Jayne could easily break them." Great, he thought, now she had him referring to himself in third person.

"Can't break what's already broken. Girl lost all core-bred training when she was away. They made her into a weapon. They didn't want the girl to become a woman. They let her become broken to fit their purposes. They didn't care if she could function or not in the world outside."

Jayne wasn't sure what he should say to that. He had seen her fight and come away with no scratches or bruises. She could easily take him down within seconds--which he hated to admit even to himself.

River decided to take matters into her own hands when she received no reaction from him. She quickly sat up and snaked her arms around him. Her lips were right next to his ear. "Jayne, I don't need gentle. Don't want to change you. A chocolate chip cookie without the chocolate chips wouldn't be the same--just like Jayne without his rough edges wouldn't be Jayne anymore. She wants Jayne. I want you." She nipped at his ear.

Jayne couldn't fight the fire racing across his body, nor the reaction he got when he felt her hand travel down his stomach and towards his groin.

"Don't fight it," she said as she nibbled and lick her way down to his throat.

"Fight it?" he gasped as her hand began to stroke him through his pants. "That would be very un-Jayne like!"

"Very," she agreed.

He growled as he repositioned her so that she was straddling him. He bit her neck--harder than he had intended too--before licking it better. There would be a mark there later, and he couldn't help but feel a manly pride in knowing that others would see it and recognized it for what it was.

River giggled as he moved down her collarbone. This was exactly what she had been waiting for--maybe from the first time she recognized him with a woman's mind that Jayne was a man.

She didn't need gentle. Everyone was gentle with her, as if she would break if they spoke too harshly to her. Simon was overprotective of her. A small bruise was a huge concern for him. Mal still saw her as a child--one where he needed to keep her safe from harm's way. Kaylee and Inara considered her a little sister and thus didn't treat her as their equal. Zoe was the only one of the crew that saw her as she was: a skilled warrior much like herself. But Zoe was lost in her own grief-filled world, and River hadn't felt her confidence in awhile. And Jayne? He had avoided her for the most part, letting others deal with her bipolar moods. She didn't take it personally as that was how he treated almost everyone.

His hand slipped beneath her dress, and that's when she stopped thinking…almost stopped breathing. She could only focus on him.

In no time, they had their clothing rearranged and he was buried deep inside her. They didn't go slow or take their time. Their lovemaking was fast and wild and neither one could catch their breath when they reached their climax.

River collapsed on top of him, her body feeling like jelly. She didn't want to move, but she could feel Jayne getting restless underneath her.

Jayne grunted as he found the strength to push her off of his lap. They quickly fixed their clothing as they stood up. He stared at her, and she stared up at him. He shifted uncomfortably.

"Well," he said into the silence stretching between them.

She nodded.

"Right. Least we got a reason for looking like this."

River glanced down at herself. "Like what?"

"Like, um…like we've been sexing."

She cocked her head at him. "But we did."

"I know that! I just don't need Mal or your brother to find out. I like my head exactly where it is. On my neck!"

"Me too." She stroked his neck. "It's a very fine neck."

He slapped at her hand. "Yeah, well…"

She smiled at him. "Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you. Truth works very well."

Jayne's eyes widen in shock. "You're going to tell them we had sex?!" he shouted.

She rolled her eyes as she walked away from him. "I said I like your neck too. We just omit the middle part of the story. River fell down and Jayne followed to check her safety. We came back to Serenity so that Simon can look her over."

"Why do you do that?"

"Do what?" she asked as she carefully climbed up the hill. She turned back to look at him.

"Talk about yourself as if you're talking about someone else."

She shrugged her shoulders. "Don't want to talk about it."

"Okay."

She bit her lip. "She coped with them the best way she could--protecting the true River from what they were doing to her…me. I slip up when I get emotional. Sometimes."

The reached the top in silence. River nodded at him. "We should do this again."

There was a twinkle in his eyes as he leaned into her face. "Fall down a hill?"

"That, and kiss my boo-boos too." She gave him a small peck on his check. "And much more."

"Maybe you could fall down into my bunk tonight."

"Maybe," she said giggling.


End file.
